Former policy debater here.

In terms of argumentation, I am open to all types of arguments as long as they are articulated clearly and fully. Please explain the importance of your arguments and how that impacts how I should vote and why. I appreciate clash and analysis, and depth over breadth.

In terms of speaking style, I prefer clear articulation over speed. I am okay with you spreading the meat of your card ONLY if the tagline is clear with the author and date. If the tagline is not clear it will be hard for me to keep a clean flow which might impact my decision. It's been a while since I judged so help me help you.

Overall, I am a pretty easygoing judge and happy to hear any type of argument, it's on you to make sure I understand how to vote and why.

Add me to the chain jess.berenson@gmail.com

Logistics/Background:

I am a former debater from Georgetown Day School and attended the TOC my senior year. I currently coach for the Washington Urban Debate League. This will be my fourth year as coach. Last year I judged between 40-45 rounds at local, regional and national tournaments. I'm fine with speed.

If you have a question please ask.

I think the debate round is a sacred and safe space. I work hard to protect the safety, the education and to minimize the stress level in a round. I get it-- everyone wants to win and some situations are stressful (whether you are going to break, get a TOC bid or maybe its the beginning of the season or the end of the year or maybe its just a bad day). I am a human being and its not been so long since my time at the TOC that I've forgotten what its like. I try to understand.

My focus on a safe space means that I have zero tolerance for racism, sexism or otherwise bullying or harassing behavior.

I strongly believe that the debaters should choose the arguments not the judges. So if you have an argument that you think is worth running then you should run it. I will vote for the team that argues the arguments in the round the best. I work hard not to have bias FOR/OR against different frameworks, theory, kritiks, conditional counterplans etc. Its all about convincing me that your argument is the best which I think you do through a strong line by line debate. Don't rely on me to read a bunch of cards at the end of the round. I like to vote off my flow. The debaters who get the best speaker points from me (and often the ballot) are the one's who rigorously answer the line by line debate and develop arguments as they go.

Debate seems to ebb and flow with long overviews especially on the K debate. I have no problem with long overviews, however, when they come at the expense of the line by line debate I think you do yourself a disservice.

I have spent a lot of time listening to, thinking about and voting both ways on performance affirmatives. I am not biased for one side or the other. That being said, I believe the best performance affirmatives that I have seen and am more likely to vote for are the ones that don't just expect me to compare apples and oranges but will provide a paradigm/framework for me to consider their case that rejects what the negative will be telling me the affirmative "has" to run. I especially like it when the affirmative frames that in the 1AC so I know what I'm listening to. All that said--I'll vote either way depending on how the round plays out, this is just my preference.

On the policy side of things-- my preference for a strong line by line continues. I think debating topicality and answering topicality is a lost art, as are things like counter plan theory. Slow down (on either side) and explain your arguments. Please don't just read blocks with two word answers. I don't know what to do with them and I rarely vote for them.

I will do my best to give a comprehensive RFD at the end of the round. However, sometimes time gets tricky and we get cut short. I keep my flows so please feel free to email me with other questions.

I am honored to judge you. Being a debater was an important time in my life and I'm happy to give back to the community by judging.

liv (pronounced "leave") birnstad – livbirnstaddebate@gmail.com

any pronouns

washington (DC) urban debate league '23

harvard '27

'23 National Urban Debater of the Year

For LD

I have now judged one LD tournament (Newark '24), im a policy judge who is good for your Ks or more trad LD Strats, but I won't be able to get the tricks debate.

For college policy

I didn't/don't do college debate so I am not familiar with the college topic at all. it's your burden to explain acronyms or any other norms I might miss becuase of that!

TL;DR

debaters stop stealing prep challenge. level: impossible. ☹

i coach the boston debate league's nat circuit team + capital city's jv/varsity teams

i'll happily evaluate anything, i just care about you having fun and being kind to your opponents. debate isn't always a safe space so anything you do that legitimately harms the safety of the space will deck your speaks and make you lose.

read my face, im very expressive lol

if there is something I see in your speech that appears to be legitimately harmful/violent language, or justifies violence, my ballot is not yours.

I wouldn't consider myself to be too tech-heavy. speed is fine but make sure arguments are warranted out -- I want everything on my flow.

speed? – sure. be clear. debate is a speech act.

open cx? – sure.

theory? – sure but i wouldn't say im a theory hack

can i read __? – yes, just read it well

tech > truth? – i meannn yeah (kinda?) but i hate that this is a distinction to make. i have some ever-evolving thoughts around this. i’ll reward good debate but i encourage you to just make fully warranted arguments above all else.

tell me how to evaluate the round.

Full Version

bio

i debated all of highschool in the washington urban debate league so accessibility is really important to me (see below). i coach multiple HS teams and also coach some middle schoolers which means I will hold you to higher threshold for tolerable nonsense since yourelikely not eleven.

i read policy affs all four years but was much more flex on the neg. my entire senior year i only went for a K. did all the nat circuit things and generally care a lot about the activity so feel free to do what you want and do best.

stealing prep

dont do it. if it seems like you are close to stealing prep (i.e. maybe you're not outright stealing prep, but you're using send time very liberally, or anything else sketch. i.e. typing while the other team is in the bathroom and you're not running prep) and i have to remind you more than once, you're losing .2 speaker points each time.

accessibility…

comes before everything else. if youre debating a paper team w/o a computer – make sure there is a way they can access your ev. if you fail to do this i’ll deck your speaks and give the other team much more leniency.

accessibility also means not reading arguments drenched in violence (in any sense) without checking if that is ok for the other teams. this is especially true for teams that read arguments about sexual violence.

if speed is not accessible to another team for whatever reason (auditory processing disorders, etc) … don’t spread.

line by line

do it.

speaker points

while policy isnt always seen as one, it IS a speech act, your speaking matters. being technical will help you get speaks but its not enough if youre trying to get 29s or higher. fyi, if you can’t already tell by the way i type, i love, love, LOVE good use of emphasis lol

BE NICE. debaters that are mean in round are not gonna be getting good speaks. being mean shouldnt help you and i won’t reward it.

the k

do whatever you want. win fw. when EVERYTHING, inevitably, become a link in the block, distill it down to like two by the 2NR to make me happy! be warned that i hate psychoanalysis and think that a lot of high-theory ks are annoying as hell. going for high-theory ks is a risk in front of me, dont assume i know the lit or your jargon.

K affs

i never read them but i think theyre super interesting and am happy to evaluate one!

the kritik should be a space of advocacy – not speaking for others. teams taking the literature specific to an identity that they do not hold and completely misinterpreting it is weird. (not saying its bad to explore literature... just don’t do it poorly)

if you read an aff that uses things like songs, poetry, etc, you're good to do that in front of me.

cross x…

Is my FAVORITE part of debate so please, please, PLEASE utilize it well!

6,7,8+ off

I generally believe these kinds of debates are shallow and don't actually give teams as much leverage as they think apart from a time skew. while theory is not my bread and butter (see below) ill be a lil more lenient with condo with 6+ off.

theory

i'm admittedly not a great judge for theory, especially the "specs." if you wanna go for this, you have to GO FOR IT. actually articulate the impacts and the warrants to how they are implicated by whatever your violation is.

card clipping/evidence ethics

ethical citation practices are super important to me. if someone makes a card clipping accusation in the round (or another evidence ethics violation) i will stop the round after the speech in which it occurs, explain the stakes to the team that makes the accusation, and if they decide to continue with the accusation i'll evaluate the argument. if it gets to that point, i'll see if the cards were clipped. if so, the team that makes the accusation wins, if not, they lose.

silly/fun args?

please! debate is supposed to be enjoyable and i love silly little arguments just know the time and place.

misc

I don't see myself voting on things that happened before the reading of the 1ac. if you’re gonna make args about the other team from before the round, it's gonna be hard to get my vote on these args so make them with caution.

if the round doesn’t go the way you want, i would be happy to listen to a redo + give feedback just send it to me within a week.

Email:mcalister.clabaugh@urbandebate.org

I was a pretty successful high school debater and a pretty unsuccessful college debater in the 1990s, then judged probably 10-12 tournaments on the national high school circuit. Stepped away from debate for about 20 years, then started judging again in 2016 as a volunteer for the Washington UDL, judging around 5 tournaments/year since then.

I'm a big fan of debate, as an activity through which students express themselves and acquire knowledge and skills, and as a competition, and coming back as a volunteer has been rewarding for me, and hopefully helpful for the students I've judged and worked with outside of rounds.

I flow on paper, and organization and structure in speeches are important for me. I really appreciate it when teams identify their arguments when giving them. For example, a 1NC that labels their off-case arguments as "Off" before reading them makes it harder for me to flow the round than a 1NC that announces "Capitalism kritik," or "Politics disad," etc. Same for case arguments - please let me know where on case - solvency, advantage one, advantage two, framing, etc.

I have minimal experience judging kritik affs, and while I've followed their evolution in debate over the last several years, I'm not particularly current or knowledgeable on some of the theory issues around them. I'd like to change that, but if you run kritik affs, there are probably some issues that will be new to me. I do think there is, and should be, room in debate for issues that affect the broader frameworks and circumstances within which policy is created, and ones that have an educational purpose, but I'm not absolute about it and will listen to arguments on both sides.

I have and will vote on neg kritiks, and am more likely to do so if the neg demonstrates in speeches and CX that they have a thorough understanding of their position and its grounding - more than repeating taglines in the neg block & 2NR. I want to hear your understanding of the argument, and a demonstration of why it matters. I've been impressed by the evolution of kritiks in terms of how they're organized and how teams execute them, both on the aff and neg. I'm also somewhat surprised by how frequently teams seem unprepared to debate kritiks that are run against them.

I'm more current on policy and current events than I am on theory, and the NATO topic touches on a lot of issues that I've either debated before or have personal interests and curiosity about.

On issues like solvency and advantages/disads, I'm a big fan of specificity and mechanisms through which A leads to B leads to C, and how/why that happens.

I think topicality is a useful tool for negatives.

2NR/2AR summaries are probably the quickest way to get my ballot, telling me how you see the round, and identifying the key few issues and assessments I should be making and how they should be made.

Good luck.

Email: colemant@union.edu

Whats POPPIN, My name is Ty and I am a first year in College. I started debating my sophomore year of high school, and in my second year of debating, in my junior year, I won Maverick City's champs in Boston. Throughout my debate career I ran K affs and Ks, I barely ran any policy arguments, but it does not mean I am going to just dismiss policy args and tech debate. I have participated in NAUDLS, and other national tournaments, Spreading is okay, just be clear and pronunciate. The point of debate is not to spread so fast that no one can understand you, it is to learn from one another and develop better critical skills, which is important in the real world.

Do's:

- Offense first, not defense: Many debaters go straight into their speech and try to answer all their opponents arguments first before even extending their case and offense, which is not good. I want you to start all your speeches with your offense and winning arguments before you go into defensive mode. You can apply your offense to your line by line when you go down it and impact compare arguments, which is fine, just make sure to be clear about your offense, why your arg is winning and the impact that that argument has on the decision of the round,

Road Map Pretty Please- Road maps are cool and I would like one, I think that it makes everyone's flow cleaner, and if you are able to stick to your road map throughout your speech, which many debaters, including myself, have a hard time doing, it will make everything easier for you and it will feel more organized.

EyeHawk your opponents arguments LOL- What I mean by this is DO NOT let your opponents get away with dropping an argument and not bring it up in your speech, I will cry, not literally, if I see that after a speech you did not catch or mention a conceded/dropped argument from your opponent, picking up these things will help you alot.

Rebuttals Are Key- Rebuttals matter a lot and have the potency to change the whole round, so BRING THAT HEATTTTTT, and make sure you hit on ALL cylinders, Destroy you opponents in these speeches because you ONLY GET ONE!!!

Other than that, enjoy Debate and Have FUN!!!

Clarke Dickens

Former Debater (Middle and High School) under the Washington Urban Debate League (WUDL)

Summary:

I’ve judged rounds for novice and JV and Varsity. I have also participated in national circuit tournaments. I see the primary role of a judge as giving you thoughtful and actionable feedback on your scholarship as presented to me in round.

My preferences (heavily influenced by David Trigaux):

Pre-Round

1. Speed: I prefer a mix of good speed and clear argument(s).

2. Policy v Kritik: No preference

3. Theory: I often find these debates shallow/lacking details and trading-off with more educational, common-sense arguments. Use when needed and show me why you don't have other options.

4. I usually do not vote on T.

5. Performance: Not something I favor, but still open to. Focus on why / what the net benefit is of the unique argument / argumentation style.

6. Shadow Extending: I don’t flow author’s names, so if you are trying to extend your "Smith" evidence, talk to me about the warrants or I won’t know what you are talking about and won't do the work for you.

7. Email Chains: I do look at email chains during the round. If I don’t hear it, I won’t flow it, but I do look to make sure both teams are sending the documents they said they would. I’ll look through the cards after the round if the substance of a card will impact my decision, or if I want to appropriate your citations.

• Creativity + Scholarship: I look for creative thinking, and original research. I will give very high speaker points to folks who can demonstrate these criteria, even in defeat.

Don't / Pet Peeves

1. Being disrespectful (includes being rude, demeaning, racist/sexist, etc.)

2. Make Debate Less Accessible: This includes not having an effective way to share evidence with a team debating on paper (such as a 3rd, "viewing" laptop, or being willing to share one of your own) when in person.

3. Overviews: Keep them short.

Counterplans: Do run a Topic/Aff specific CP, with a detailed, well written/explained CP Texts and/or Topic nuance for Generics (like Courts).

Don’t forget to perm. As well as default to theory in the 2AC without at least trying to make substantive responses too.

Kritiks: I love K debates that include aff specific links, the solvency needs to be thoroughly explained, and it should also be able to be explained in your own words.

Role of the Ballot: Surprise me.

Danielle Dupree - danielle.dupree@urbandebate.org- she/her

22 y/o DMV Debater @ Howard University

For TOC....

Speed: Auditory processing issues so i dont like spreading at all - comfortable speed is fine just slow down on tags & analytics or make sure your doc is organized pls. If you MUST spread plsss include any analytics in whatever you send me, otherwise dont hate me if it doesnt get flowed. This is your warning

Performance: I love an unconventional debate when it's done well, meaning make it abundantly clear why your form of debate is necessary. If you're doing a half-baked performance 90% of my rfd will probably be about how I wished you sung me a song or stood on a desk and did a little dance, etc.

K: Preference for K debate. I mostly have experience in antiblackness and femnoire literature, so any other higher level theses will have to be deeper explained.

Troll: I need to hear BOTH teams enthusiastically consenting to a troll round, otherwise at the end of the round you will lose. That is your warning.

Timing: PLEASE im not keeping your prep! don't take prep then ask me how much time you took bookie. I disassociated, I've got no clue. - Also I stop flowing as soon as the time goes off, pls dont try to shove your last arg in after the bell

Cross: I literally don't care, only time I will insist closed cross is if someone's going mav. I do like when you stand but again its not mandatory.

The obvious/nitpicky reminders...

T: Violation & definition is never enough, no limits & grounds, no case. I appreciate creative violations, and T that is brought into the real world. ALSO pls tell me where you want me to flow, esp theory.

FW & ROB: I default the actor of policymaker unless directed otherwise.

All of that is to say, do whatever you want, just make sure you work hard on it and make it fun for all of us :)

Hey folks! Super excited to judge you all this weekend. This is my paradigm if you don't feel like reading it I have bolded the important info!

My experience is I am a former policy debater and I have taught Public Forum

As someone who spent the majority of their time in Policy debate, I've grown accustomed to the steady pace and clear diction of policy debaters; while I am capable of understanding speed, I prefer arguments made that are slow with elegance over speedy deliver of cards, and firmly believe that repeated citation of an author does not an argument make. Given my recent experiences with people claiming they can spread (and being laughably bad at it), I've decided that it's best to err on the side of caution and simply say no spreading. (basically no speed reading)

Fewer arguments explained thoroughly are preferential over a multitude of shallow attacks that are just snippets of evidence with little debate connection. I weigh rounds on impact calculus unless otherwise directed to do so explicitly by debaters- if you wish for me to use another weighing mechanism, I expect to be told why your mechanism is preferential over impact calc and your opponent's. There's nothing I really have trouble following; I'm familiar with k's and the semantics of debate. I have no problem with unorthodox strategies or progressive argumentation.

More details, take head.

Flashing- not very picky with the flashing cards or whatever, but just try to not waste too much time flashing or I will start running prep.

Line by line - I do pay close attention to specific arguments being made on the flow, that being said I hate judge intervention and will not draw any lines for you. I advice that you specify which arguments you want me to weigh in particular and its importance in the round

Topicality - I think that topicality is a strategic argument and will look at it as a disad, and pay particular attention to the 'impact" of the affirmative to both the fairness and educationof the round. If you plan to go for topicality Iwant to see you prove abuse in the round without purposely opting out of potential arguments. Highly doubt that anyone will ever persuade me that it is a reverse voter or it's not a voting issue. *Love a great T debate*

Kritiks -- I think the best teams tend to look for more specific links outside of the generics read in the 1NC, if you can extract really good links from the evidence the aff presents, or the words that they use, it makes the K more powerful and decreases the chance of the affswindling their way out. Also, having a pretty SOLIDalternative really helps proves that their is a different non problematic approach, and gives negsome credibility. I think affirmative should always have a framework asking to weightheir case impacts against the Kritik, makes your case "matter" when it comes decision making.

Theory - not a huge fan, but I am against using this as a strategy for whatever... using theory alone to get the ballot is ill advised. I mostly likely will vote down the argument, unless you can prove that somehow they skewed your education or ability to debate failrly.

Case - self explanatory. for the affteam - Take good care of your affthroughout the round. Weigh it against everything, its your best defense mechanism.

Counter Plan - try to make it topic specific, and have a counter plan text

Framework - totally open to new ways of thinking/voting in rounds, I think its important that we question how we debate. I will go with whatever framework is presented and warranted the best in the round. If no framework is established in the round I will traditionally go with aff having to meet the burden of proof, and neg defending the status quo or a competitive policy action. Tips for running Framework - prove why your framework is best not only for you, but for the opposing team and for any other potential debate. The more inclusive and fair your framework to higher the chance I go with it.

Any further questions, ask away when you see me.

I have been coaching and judging with the Washington Urban Debate League since 2016.

I see debate as an exchange of intellectual discourse, and i look for logical arguments, reasoning, and warrants, and then fairness.

I don't mind speed, as long as clarity is not compromised.

Clash and intensity are exciting, but keep everything civilized. It's an intellectual discourse; not a brawl. Keep an open mind, learn from each other, and be friends after the debate.

Email: jwgonzo405@gmail.com

Brief notes:

- Debated eight years in high school / college (Tampa Prep 2006-2010 and University of South Florida 2010-2014);

- I'm currently a Richmond-area attorney helping out the Washington Urban Debate League - I have coached debate irregularly for the past several years;

- As a debater, I was a counterplan/disad/case debater. I understand most basic kritiks. For more complex kritiks, explain them to me like I'm five years old;

- Consider me a tabula rasa judge that will listen to any argument and evaluate it based on the debate I observe. (N.B.: that said, everyone, including me, has internal biases and anyone who claims to be truly tabula rasa without any internal biases is definitely lying to you - for example, I have listed many of my internal biases below).

If you have questions, ask me before the round.

Some lengthier and more specific notes on theory/framework biases (all of these subject to in-round debate):

Condo: less than two conditional advocacies is normally fine (my barometer in this case is usually whether there is a performative contradiction between the conditional advocacy and the neg's defense of the status quo). More than two conditional advocacies is probably bad, but this is still debatable and dependent on the circumstances. Regardless, I'm always a fan of dispositional advocacies, defined as the neg agrees to advocate the position in the 2NR if there is offense on the flow that prevents the neg from "kicking out of" the position;

PICS: generic PICs are usually bad, but topic-specific or aff-specific PICs are usually good;

"reject the argument, not the team" is evaluated based on the in-round damage done;

framework = always up to hear both sides of this debate, but I find framework quibbles where all the teams do is exchange generic written blocks to be the most boring and monotonous part of modern debate - we're here to debate issues, not just ask the judge to pick a winner based on pre-determined biases;

plan-less/advocacy affs are bad if at the end of the debate I do not understand the nature of the advocacy;

Non-resolutional affirmatives: I care a lot about whether the affirmative is topic-specific in a clear way, and ideally framework issue would also be topic-specific. To explain this further: I think there are three critical components of the framework impact debate vis-a-vis topicality debates (1) the education provided by the affirmative and how it is beneficial to include the affirmative in the topic; (2) the fairness deficit (topic limits/predictability/ground) suffered by the negative from the affirmative moving away from the resolution as-written; (3) whether the affirmative's chosen topic and framework present an issue that can be debated by the negative; and (4) whether there are any quantifiable independent impacts relevant to the framework debate. It is really important to me that there is a strong internal link from the advocacy to the topic both because there will be a greater educational benefit as a result of debating the affirmative and because it reduces the affirmative's exclusionary effect on the negative's ability (and readiness) to debate the affirmative. This is not to say that an affirmative that completely avoids the topic (e.g. challenging the other team to a Taylor Swift dance-off contest) will always lose in front of me, but from an impact calculus perspective, a completely non-topical affirmative has a much higher hill to climb in proving that the educational benefits of the affirmative and the independent impact of voting affirmative outweigh the fairness deficit;

Disclosure theory = the availability of caselists has largely muted this issue, but some tournaments have very specific rules on what needs to be disclosed. If a tournament rule is broken, that theoretically justifies my vote, but I think an evaluation of what the rule-breaker did to fix the problem and how the opposing team was hurt by the rule violation (if at all) matters a lot more than just a rote application of the tournament rules;

Time limits on speeches and prep time (I write this because only because it has come up once to interesting effects): I generally think proposing to change time limits is a very bad idea and the team that intentionally takes the first extended speech more than ten seconds or so over time has likely committed in-round abuse. That said, I have an important message for any team trying (or defending against) this strategy in front of me: THE TAB ROOM'S SELECTED DEBATE END-TIME IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE AND MY BALLOT WILL BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN THE TIME REQUIRED BY TAB (this is true regardless of the outcome of any theory debate that may occur).

Schools/Affiliations: Mathematics Teacher/Debate Coach - Edison Preparatory

I did not compete in policy debate in junior high/high, but I have been coaching policy debate for 4 years.

General Paradigm
I'm open-minded and take the stance from a policymaking point of view. I'm looking for an argument that is well-formed and well-explained. I don't care for just running a bunch of random stuff to try to spread someone out, this misses the point of policy debate.

Speed
Clarity. If I can’t understand you, then I can’t flow you and I likely won’t be inclined to vote for you or the position(s) I don’t understand. I slightly have a hard time hearing, virtual rounds sometimes get glitchy - as long as your argument is well-formed, you shouldn't have to speed. Look for cues (not flowing, a blank look on my face).

Line by Line
I prefer line by line debate. I believe you need to flow and I don’t think a team is obligated to share analytical arguments in a flash/speech doc. If the debate becomes disorganized because of your inability to stay on the flow, that’ll likely cost you in some way. Debate, at its essence, is about a clash of ideas...therefore clash is an essential ingredient to a good debate round. A round between two teams who neither extend their own arguments, nor address the specific attacks made on these arguments, is not a debate round, and such a round begs for intervention on my part.

Decision Calculus
I loathe to intervene in a round, but will do so if neither team presents a clear comparative analysis of the issues in the round. You need to tell me why I should vote for you and make that clear in the final rebuttals.

Framework
I’ll start with my paradigm, you tell me where to move to, and convince me of why I should do so, if you’d like to change the framework. Any framework should make it possible for both sides to win and shouldn’t be rooted in a rejection of debate as an activity (though it’s possible I could be convinced otherwise).

Topicality (or any other procedural/theory argument)

If the affirmative is not able to prove that they are topical, that's the first place I will vote. I believe that it is important for affirmative cases to meet the resolution if we are going to have fair and educational debate. That being said, it doesn't take a lot of work for the aff to convince me they are topical. A solid we meet, counter-interp, and reasons to prefer extended throughout the debate are good enough for me. I want it to be answered, but I don't really want to listen to a whole round of debate on T - get through it and move on.

Kritiks

Please don't run a K unless you actually plan to go for it in the round. Running Ks as a time suck and then kicking out of them halfway through the round is a move that I cannot get behind. If a K doesn't have real-world alternatives, it will take more work on your part to convince me that it's a good idea. If something is heavily theory-based, it needs to be explained well.


Performance
Do what you will, I’ll listen. Prefer they be relevant to topic.

Counterplans
I am good with counterplans, conditional is fine, but don’t get too feisty in this regard. Deep counterplan and pic theory give me headaches, so slow down and talk me through it.

Multiple Worlds

No thanks...multiple conditional positions are fine, but not contradictory advocacy. Can’t be convinced otherwise on the matter so save your time.

3NRs and My Decision
I will give an oral critique if time allows and reveal decision if permitted by tourney expectations, but I will not enter into an argument with either team about my decision. I can handle a question or two, but make sure it’s a question. Look, I am always going to do my best, but I’m sure I’ve gotten the decision wrong a time or two, and I hate it when I do. That being said, my usual answer when teams argue why they lost is: I’d feel the same way if I were you, but next time debate better. Then I mark their speaker points down for being rude. Live to fight another day, and be aware that you might see your judge again down the road.

Prep Time

I will be lenient as we learn the online format, but that being said, I’m losing patience with the time taken up by flashing files even during in-person debates. Be efficient.

I debated 1 year in High School earning a NFL Ruby. I then debated two years in college placing in the top 5 on our circuit. I have coached Middle School debate for 14 years. I am a flow judge and base my decisions on argumentation.. I am not a fan of speed talking or of Kritiks. I want to hear about Inherency, significance, harms, and solvency, Counterplans are acceptable, Topicality can be an issue if argued well.

Middle school debate coach for 5 years, Language Arts teacher for 10. I value clarity far more over speed. Have clear arguments that show you firmly grasp the stock issues and your (and your opponent's) claims and reasoning. I'm not picky on types of arguments, just don't wait until rebuttals or cross-x to make it clear (beyond reading cards) why what you're saying matters; you should be explaining that each step of the way.

As a Language Arts teacher, any creativity that helps make the story you're telling through your debate more interesting and appealing is welcome (debate should be fun!). Just keep it grounded in reality, have strong clash, and clear and frequent impact calculus.

I am a third year middle school policy debate coach for the Washington Urban Debate League. Over the past three years I have judged my fair share of rounds across divisions. While I have not competed in policy debate, I was a competitor on my high school's speech team so public speaking (HOW you present your arguments) is very important to me.

Speaking speed: I don't mind spreading when files are shared during the round (emailed ahead of speaking). Enunciation is important though. If I can't understand you, those arguments are discounted.

I tend to focus on core clashes rather than theory or topicality. At the end of the day, focus on being persuasive and don't leave any clashes on the table!

Georgia Ray - ray@eli.org - she/her

Coach for Oyster Adams Middle School and former high school debater. Pretty relaxed judging style and am happy to consider any argument as long as it is respectful.

Here are some things I care about —

Speed: I value clarity and find speed to occlude arguments. If you believe more, less clear arguments will be stronger for you case than fewer, very clear arguments, then that is a choice you can make. I rely heavily on my flow (I do flow on a computer) so if I miss something you say, I will not consider it.

Theory: Strong theory can win a debate for you. Weak theory can easily detract from your mission.

K: I do think there is, and should be, room in debate for issues that affect the broader frameworks and circumstances within which policy is created, and ones that have an educational purpose, but I'm not absolute about it and will listen to arguments on both sides.

Policy: Policy is the name of the game for me. I am a policy expert in this area for work, so I will be well-versed on policy matters for this topic (feel free to make it a little niche!)

Some things I am not a fan of —

Getting too in the weeds on a specific argument: you are going to win because you gave the most well-rounded perspective, not because you convinced me of something specific and semantic.

Leaving D.C. Out: Don't leave D.C. out of your States CP Text or other relevant advocacy statements. There is a racialized history of erasure and abuse of the 750,000 + majority Black residents who live here and experience taxation without representation. Don't perpetuate it.

Yelling or talking over an opponent: If you can't make your point calmly, then you need to make a different point.

Hey y'all,

Introduction: My name is Ariella Taylor and I am a freshman at Case Western Reserve University. I have experience running Ks (black futuristic stuff and afro pess) and regular policy cases.

Voting: Impact Calc and Internal link explanations are key for my vote. If the debate is coming down to fw please tell me how I am supposed to engage with these arguments, tell me what my role as a judge is in this round.

If you run - DA - CP - Inherency cards, I need you to explain to me why these arguments matter. Many Aff teams state a problem but do not articulate how their plan solves it. I will buy the internal link between the plan and solvency impacts if the neg does not bring it up, but if they even hint at it I will agree and concede to a huge gap in your case. I try to come into each round unbiased, in most cases, I will not care about (for example) whether black people can vote or not, or billions of people dying in a nuclear war if you do not tell me why I should care. Moreover, please please do not assume that I will just buy args because I am black, I will not.

* Note for the Aff: Please try to get to your solvency in the first speech

* Note for the Neg: Do impact calc on your Das and turns

* I will vote any team down for clear bullying.

trancally172@gmail.com

I’ll vote on anything that makes sense and is elaborated upon. I need to feel confident about what I’m voting for. Additionally, tell me what to do as the judge. I won't be connecting the dots for you.

Debate is a tool meant for expression and empowerment. And so, I’ll be more inclined to vote on performance debates that can captivate, inspire, and/or transform the debate space in any capacity.

I don’t particularly enjoy topicalities. I think the way they’re oftentimes utilized is meant to silence people and their approach to debate.

I don’t enjoy spreading. I think that practice is elitist and ableist. If you’re spreading, I probably won’t be inclined to give you high speaker points especially if I need you to clarify. Other than that, debate how you want and conduct the space as you wish.

Lastly, I don’t tolerate bigotry in the debate space.

David Trigaux

Former (HS + College) debater, 15+ years experienced coach / increasingly old

Director, Washington Urban Debate League (WUDL)

15 Sec Summary:

I judge 30 rounds at national circuit tournaments each year, cut A LOT of cards on each topic, and am somewhere in the middle of the argumentation spectrum. I often judge clash debates. I have some slight preferences (see below), but do your best and be creative. I am excited to hear whatever style/substance of argumentation you'd like to make.

Recent Update: 2/6/24

1. **New Pet Peeve** Plan / Counterplan Flaws: The plan text / advocacy statement is the focus of the exchange -- you should put some effort into writing it, wording it correctly, etc. I've found myself very persuadable by plan flaw arguments if a substantive normal means argument can be made, and heavily reward the wit and research to prepare such arguments. Obviously flawed texts just come off as lazy, sketchy, or both. This also includes circular plan texts -- "we should do X, via a method that makes X successful" isn't a plan text, it's wishful thinking, but unfortunately repeatedly found in 3-1 debates at TOC qualifiers.

Accessibility:

I run an Urban Debate League; debate is my full-time job. I work with 700+ students per season, ranging from brand new ES and MS students refining their literacy skills and speaking in front of someone else for the first time to national circuit teams looking to innovate and reach the TOC. Both debaters are equally valuable members of the community and accessibility is a big issue for me. I see the primary role of a judge as giving you thoughtful and actionable feedback on your scholarship and strategies as presented to me in round, but folks gotta be able to get into the space and be reasonably comfortable first.

5 Min Before Round Notes:

• Speed: I can handle whatever you throw at me (debate used to be faster than it is now, but it doesn't mean that full speed is always best) 75% Speed + emotive gets more speaks.
• Policy v Kritik: I was a flex debater and generally coach the same way, though I have run/coached 1 off K and 1 off policy strategies. Teams that adapt and have a specific strategy against the other team almost always do better than those that try to just do one thing and hope it matches up well.
• Theory: I often find these debates shallow and trade-off with more educational, common-sense arguments. Use when needed and show me why you don't have other options.
• Creativity + Scholarship: *Moving up for emphasis* I heartily reward hard work, creative thinking, and original research. Be clever, do something I haven't heard before. I will give very high speaker points to folks who can demonstrate these criteria, even in defeat. (Read: Don't barf Open Ev Downloads you can't contextualize) Go do some research!
• Performance: “Back in my day….” Performance Affs were just being invented, and they had a lot more actual “performance” to them (music, costume, choreography, etc.). Spreading 3 lines of poetry and never talking about it again doesn't disrupt any existing epistemologies, etc. I have coached a few performative teams and find myself more and more excited about them....when there is a point to the performance. Focus on why / what the net benefit is of the unique argument / argumentation style.
• Shadow Extending: I intentionally don’t flow author’s names in Varsity rounds, so if you are trying to extend your "Smith" evidence, talk to me about the warrants or I won’t know what you are talking about and won't do the work for you. Novices get a lot of latitude here; I am always down to help folks develop the fundamentals. Try extending things even if it isn't perfect.
• Email Chains: This is a persuasive activity. If I don’t hear it/flow it, you didn't do enough to win the point and I’m not going to read along and do work for you. I’ll look through the cards after the round if the substance of a card will impact my decision, or if I want to appropriate your evidence.
• About "the State": I was born and current live in Washington D.C., have a graduate degree in Political Science, and worked in electoral politics and on public policy issues outside debate. This has shaped a pre-disposition that "governance" is inevitable. The US government has a poor track-record on many issues, but I find generic "state always bad" links unpersuasive, historically untrue, and/or insufficiently nuanced. I think you are better than that, and I challenge you to make nuanced, well researched claims instead. Teams that do usually win and get exceedingly high speaker points, while those that don't usually lose badly. This background also makes me more interested in implementation and methodology of change (government, social movement, or otherwise) than the average judge, so specific and beyond-the-buzzword contextualization on plan/alt, etc. solvency are great.
• Artificial Intelligence: I am going to flesh out these thoughts as the season goes, and as I talk to the great, thoughtful peers in the community, but initially, reading rebuttals written by generative AI seems to be cheating, and actively anti-educational, so if you are doing that, don't, and if you suspect the other team is, raise it as an issue.

Ways to Lose Rounds / Speaker Points:

1. Being Mean -- I am very flexible with speaker points, heavily rewarding good research, wit, and humor, and am very willing to nuke your speaker points or stop the round if you are demeaning, racist/sexist, etc.
2. Leave D.C. Out: Don't leave D.C. out of your States CP Text or other relevant advocacy statements. Its bad policy writing, and continues a racialized history of erasure and abuse of the 750,000 + majority black residents who live here and experience taxation without representation. Don't perpetuate it.
3. Make Debate Less Accessible: I run an Urban Debate League; it is my professional responsibility to make debate more accessible.
1. If you erect a barrier to accessing this activity for someone else, I will vote you down, give you the lowest possible speaker points, report you to TAB, complain to your coach, and anything else I can think of to make your time at this tournament less enjoyable and successful.
2. This includes not having an effective way to share evidence with a team debating on paper (such as a 3rd, "viewing" laptop, or being willing to share one of your own) when in person. This is a big accessibility question for the activity that gets overlooked a lot especially post pandemic, many of our debaters still use paper files.
4. Rude Post-Rounding (especially if it is by someone who didn't watch the round): I will contact tab and vigorously reduce speaker points for your team after submission.
5. Multi-Minute Overviews: Don't.
6. Extinction Good: Don't be a troll, get a better strategy that isn't laced with nasty racial undertones. This is a place where theory makes sense -- show me why they don't give you another choice.
7. Intentionally Trolly High Theory or Technobabble Arguments: If you just want to demonstrate how good you are that you can make up nonsense and win anyway, strike me. There should be a point to what you say which contributes to our understanding of the world.
8. Highly Inaccurate Email Chains: Unfortunately, some folks put a giant pile of cards they couldn’t possibly get through in the email chain, and skip around to the point of confusion, making refutation (and flowing) difficult. It’s lazy at best and a cheap move at worst and will impact your speaks if I feel like it is intentional.
9. **New Pet Peeve** Plan / Counterplan Flaws: The plan text / advocacy statement is the focus of the exchange -- you should put some effort into writing it, wording it correctly, etc. I've found myself very persuadable by plan flaw arguments if a substantive normal means argument can be made. It just comes off as lazy, sketchy, or both. This also includes circular plan texts -- "we should do X, via a method that makes X successful" isn't a plan text, it's wishful thinking, but unfortunately repeatedly found in 3-1 debates at TOC qualifiers.

In the Weeds

Disadvantages:

· I like DAs. Too many debates lack a DA of some kind in the 1NC.

o Do:

§ Research! Cut Updates! Quote a card from this week! I am a huge sucker for new evidence and post-dating, and will make it rain speaker points. Have some creative/Topic/Aff specific DAs.

o Don’t:

§ Read something random off Open Ev, Read an Elections DA after the election / not know when an election is, or be wrong about what the bill you are talking about does on Agenda Politics DAs. I wouldn't have to put it here if it didn't keep happening folks....

o Politics DA: Given my background in professional politics, I am a big fan of a well-run/researched politics DA. I read Politico and The Hill daily, enjoy C-SPAN, and many of my best friends work for Congress -- I nerd out for this stuff. I also know that there just isn't a logical scenario some weekends. Do your research, I’ll know if you haven’t.

Counterplans:

· I like a substantive counterplan debate.

o Do:

§ Run a Topic/Aff specific CP, with a detailed, well written/explained CP Texts and/or have some topic specific nuance for Generics (like Courts).

§ Use questionably competitive counterplans (consult, PIC, condition, etc.) that are supported by strong, real world solvency advocates.

§ Substantive, non-theoretical responses (even if uncarded) to CPs.

o Don’t:

§ Forget to perm.

§ Fake a net benefit

§ Default to theory in the 2AC without at least trying to make substantive responses too.

Procedurals/Topicality:

· Can be a strong strategy if used appropriately/creatively. If you go into the average round hoping to win on Condo, strike me.

o Do:

§ Prove harm

§ Have qualified evidence and intent to define

§ Slow down. Less jargon, more examples

§ Creative Violations

o Don’t:

§ Use procedurals just to out-tech your opponents, especially if this isn't Varsity.

Case Debate:

· More folks should debate the case, cards or not. Do your homework pre-tournament!

o Do:

§ Have specific attacks on the mechanism or advantage scenarios of the Aff, even if just smart analytics.

§ Make fun impact and link turns that aren't arguing that racism / sexism, etc. is good.

o Don’t:

§ Concede the case for no reason

§ Spend a lot of time reading arguments you can’t go for later or reading new cards that have the same warrants already in the 1AC

Kritiks:

· I started my debate career as a 1 off K Debater and grew to see it as part of a balanced strategy, a good strategy against some affs and not others.

o Do:

§ Read a K that fits the Aff. Reading the same K against every Aff on a topic isn't often the most strategic thing to do.

§ Read Aff specific links. Identifying evidence, actions, rhetoric, representations, etc. in the 1AC that are links.

§ Have coherent Alt solvency with real world examples that a non-debater can understand without having read your solvency author.

§ Tell a non-jargony story in your overview and tags

o Don’t:

§ Read hybrid Ks whose authors wouldn't agree with one another and don't have a consistent theory of power.

§ Read a K you can’t explain in your own words or one that you can’t articulate why it is being discussing a competitive forum or what my role listening to your words is.

o Literature: I have read a lot of K literature (Security, Cap, Fem, Anti-Blackness, etc.) but nobody is well versed in all literature bases. Explain your theory as if I haven't read the book.

o Role of the Ballot: I default to serving as a policymaker but will embrace alternative roles if you are clear what I should do instead in your first speech.

· Update: I find myself judging a lot of psychoanalysis arguments, which I find frustratingly unfalsifiable or just hard to believe or follow. I'd love to be proven wrong, but run at your own risk.

Public Forum: (Inspired by Sim Low, couldn't have said it better)

I'm sorry that you're unlucky enough to get me as a judge. Something went wrong in tournament admin, and they made me feel guilty enough that I haven't found a way to get out of judging this round.

I did enough congress and LD in high school to assure you I am not a policy debate supremacist from a lack of exposure to other formats, but because peer reviewed research says that it is the most educational and rigorous format that benefits its participants. I also find the growing popularity of the format that is proud of its anti-intellectualism and despite research that shows it is discriminatory against women and minorities reprehensible.

As a judge, I'll be grumpy and use all of your pre-round time to tell you how PF was created as a result of white flight and the American pursuit of Anti-Intellectualism far more than you want to hear (but less than you need, if you are still doing PF). If you do not have cards with proper citations, you paraphrase, and/or you don't have full text evidence ready to share with the other team pre-round, I will immediately vote for your opponents. If both of you happen to ignore academic integrity, I will put my feet up, not flow, and vote based on.....whatever vibes come to me, or who I agree with more. I also might extend my RFD to the length of a policy round to actually develop some of the possibilities of your arguments. Without academic integrity, this is a Speech event and will be judged accordingly.

Hi, y'all

My name is Walter Wexler, I'm a Freshman at Case Western Reserve University. I've been debating for five years and I've been judging for three years and one coaching.

Personally, I ran policy for most of my debate career, but I've run Cap K and I have pretty extensive experience with Set Col, Afropess, etc as those are very popular in my league. I consider myself a tabula rossa judge, and as such framework is probably the most important thing in the round as it gives me a way to evaluate. I'm open to any well-articulated argument, but don't assume I have a lot of experience in this topic as I haven't judged much this year.

*Clear bullying will be an automatic vote down

Messai Yigletu: Head Debate Coach at BASIS DC

4 years experience as a debater in high school, LD.

Coach for policy debaters, middle & high school. (Presently coaching.)

I currently coach the policy debate team at BASIS DC and have done so since the 2020 season.

would like to be on email chains for case files: messaiyigletu@gmail.com

if you are reading this, that means I will be hearing you debate pretty soon! good luck! take a minute to read a few important points that will help you in this debate.

Arguments/Debate

not usually a fan of spread/speed. Usually fine + can keep up if I have case files & you read taglines.

SIGNPOST ALL ARGUMENTS! Expecting me to guess what off you are reading based on evidence is irritating and causes unnecessary confusion + various different names/key words in round for the same block/arg. Be clear and straightforward.

Prefer to hear roadmaps at the beginning of every speech.

fine with K as long as it is clearly explained and set out in the speech. not guaranteed that I will have prior knowledge and even if I do, prefer a deep and analytical explanation of your thesis. Make sure to give a detailed/clear explanation - especially w/framing + alt.

comparative + clear clash & addressing all arguments on flow are key winning points for me.

do not assume I will automatically indicate drops in anyone's favor. if drops occur, you are responsible for addressing and explaining the warrants for why the drop is key relative to the round. (Actual drops occuring, plz don't just try and lie in 2AR/2NR. yes - it has happened.) all args on flow should be extended or specifically kicked out of throughout the debate by both sides.

speaker points are awarded basis on quality of speeches, time usage, and clarity.

keep it respectful, especially during CX. intensity and passion are fine and even encouraged, but never make it personal/attempt to take it to a point of disrespect.